Architecture as a course is very consuming. It has a lot of expectations, but it is most demanding when it comes to our sleep cycles. Working all day and then all night is a very common occurrence when it comes to architecture students. While it makes you feel sleep deprived and tired, the academic culture gratifies and validates them.
As good as you may be at managing your time, you have had to work throughout the night at least once while the rest of the world gets a sound sleep. In retrospect, these times turn out to be the most memorable ones of them all. Here are a few of the nights that I have worked through that particularly stood out.
Nights When It Gets Lonely
You look out the window and it’s all dark. The dogs are barking and people are sleeping. All lights are turned off, in your house and the entire locality as well. On occasion, you hear the sounds of cars just driving by despite the late hour. You are drowsily staring at your stark white blank A1 sheet carefully mounted on your board, for the past two hours.
The night gets colder with every passing minute. You’re having a mental block and trying to figure out a way through it. You are about to give up…and that’s when you get the breakthrough you’ve been looking for. It’s your smart TV asking you—are you still watching? You realize the true purpose of this particular night. You get up from your seat, lay down on the sofa, and watch a movie for the rest of the night.
Nights When Everyone is Sleeping….
The course can be exhausting and there have been times when all of us have just given up on the idea of finishing a submission at some point. This is where your friends play a major role. They are your biggest support system. They push you and make you realize……that your sleep is just too precious. They promise you that their intentions are similar and that they will be fast asleep tonight as well.
The entire group unanimously decides to sleep for the night and deal with the consequences the next day. Here is where the plot twist comes in though. While most of you would’ve experienced incidents where your friends and colleagues don’t keep their word and bring work the next day, I was lucky. My friends did sleep through the night and turn up empty-handed the next day, only to be thrown out of class and crash for some additional dosage of sleep.
Nights Where Everyone is Up…
One of the most memorable nights of my life was 8th November 2016- the day that the Indian government announced demonetization. November is peak submission season since we are closing in on semester end and this particular night, I was stressed about my design submission the following day.
Looking out my window at 3 am I realized that this was probably going to be the only night of my career where I could see so many lights switched on in my neighborhood at this hour. People counted currency notes while I counted sheets.
Nights When Your Parents Stay Up With You….
Being a resident of the same city as my institute, my experience with working nights at home was different from that of a hostel resident. From bringing me coffee and Maggi at 2 am, to telling me that I was going to score just as much despite working for another 4 hours, my parents have done it all.
However, one night that particularly stood out was when my friends were over for some group work and my mother converted it to a house party. She was the perfect host and all of us ended up having deep conversations and doing no work throughout the night. People lost track of time working that night while we lost track of talking.
Nights You Spend Making Models
Making models in the night is something all of us have done. Mostly because that’s the time you get to focus on making them after your primary requirements of sheets are done. It’s quite the scene though when you are working with your entire friend circle to make individual models using the same materials.
To add to the complexity, laser-cut tiny pieces with detailing. While we did put in all our efforts to make sure our pieces weren’t mixed up, the outcome the next day morning was a sight to behold. Our models were a permutation and combination of all pieces available, most of them surprisingly managing to hold their weight and stand their own.
Nights have become an integral part of the architecture curriculum. As tough and difficult as it may sound in the first year of the course, you adapt to the requirements, and these very nights end up being the funniest and most memorable times of your academic life.